Every summer, like clockwork, our planet comes under siege.
As blockbuster season sets in, a familiar scene inevitably unfolds in
multiplexes across the country: aliens, natural disasters, or vengeful baddies are
unleashed upon major metropolitan areas. The earth cracks, buildings crumble,
and untold thousands are lost in the rubble. And we in the audience are
implicitly expected to look the other way. All those broken bodies would get in
the way of our popcorn thrills, so they remain unseen, ensuring that everything
remains relatively bloodless and suitably PG-13.
In March,
“Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” attempted to address this issue head-on,
making the destruction and massive loss of lives a prime motivator in the
titular feud. The result was only mildly successful. Just two months later,
another superhero smackdown offers a superior take on
a remarkably similar idea.
“The Winter
Soldier” directors Anthony and Joe Russo return for “Captain America: Civil
War,” and successfully reframe the climactic battles that have ended so many
Marvel movies before it. A misstep during a mission in Lagos results in the
telekinetic Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) accidentally tearing a hole in an
office building and killing dozens. The incident leads to the drafting of the Sokovia Accords — named after the location of the climactic
battle in “Age of Ultron” — which seeks to make the Avengers subject to oversight
by the United Nations.
Still
reeling from his guilt over creating the homicidal Ultron, Tony Stark (Robert
Downey Jr.) immediately agrees to the new measure. Meanwhile Steve Rogers
(Chris Evans) — wary of the Avengers becoming a tool to further whatever secret
agenda the government happens to be pursuing that day — refuses to sign.
Their
differing ideologies cause a rift in the Avengers team that forces the
remaining members to choose sides like a playground game of kickball. Falcon
(Anthony Mackie) and Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) side with Cap; Black Widow
(Scarlett Johansson), War Machine (Don Cheadle), and Vision (Paul Bettany) go with Iron Man.
Then
security footage from a terrorist attack implicates the Winter Soldier (Sebastian
Stan), Cap’s best bud turned brainwashed super-soldier. Captain America sets
out to protect his friend, and the stage is set for a conflict that quickly
turns violent. Of course, there’s another player pulling the strings.
The Russo
brothers are building on the groundwork laid throughout 13 prior films in
Marvel Studios’ massive, interconnected universe. We’ve gotten to know these
characters, and knowing their personalities adds to the satisfaction in seeing
how this all plays out.
Screenwriters
Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely do a nice job
exploring the opposing sides of the debate, and make it clear where each
character is coming from. In exploring the issues of accountability and
collateral damage, there are obvious parallels to the real world and the
responsibilities of modern warfare and American intervention. For a summer
blockbuster, it’s relatively nuanced stuff. But at a certain point their
level-headed debates need to stop and the fists need to come out because, hey,
that’s what we paid to see.
During all of
this, the Russo brothers find time to introduce two great new characters: Black
Panther (a wonderful Chadwick Boseman), an African prince
turned crime-fighter, and Spider-Man, played by Tom Holland who portrays the webslinger as a cocky, affably motor-mouthed teen awed by
the idea that his idols have asked for his help.
Even with
all those characters flying around — despite the title, this is really the
third Avengers film, with only Hulk, Thor, and Nick Fury MIA — Captain America and
his mission remain at the fore. The central conflict remains personal, and
those emotional stakes are what make it all work.
The film may
be packed, but the Russo brothers find time to let things breathe. There’s a
sense of joy they’re able to bring to the material, never more so than in a
standout sequence in which both sides clash in a battle royale
on an airport tarmac. In the most comic booky fight
we’ve seen put to film, a dozen heroes clash, and demonstrate their various
powers with witty choreography and fan-pleasing inventiveness (even if the
camerawork is sometimes too shaky to take it all in).
This
infectious enthusiasm and manic energy takes nothing away from the Russo’s ability
to sell the dark moments, and this story does go to some dark places. Our
heroes battle it out, but they never let us lose sight of why it all matters.
This article appears in May 11-17, 2016.
